Why it works: Beef and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,052 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Herring Salad
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the herring
Soak the herring in water for twenty‑four hours.
Clean the herring, removing skin and bones.
Dry the herring in towels, then cut it into cubes.
Make the salad
Cut the pickle, peeled apples, meat, beets, and potatoes into cubes.
Mix all together and add vinegar, sugar, and pepper.
Serve
Pack firmly in a mound on a platter, cover with lettuce leaves, and garnish with hard‑boiled eggs cut into quarters arranged horizontally around the base of the mound.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 7 of 8 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Beef | 100g cooked | 250 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Apple | 1 medium (182g) | 95 |
| Beet | 1/2 cup (85g) | 35 |
| Black Pepper | 1 tsp ground (2.3g) | 6 |
| Vinegar | 1 tbsp (15ml) distilled | 3 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Herring | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Beef + peppertop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Potato + appletop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together603 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
-
Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Salt herring
- Forms the main fish base and gives the salad its salty, savoury flavour.
- Beets
- Provide strong colour and an earthy sweetness that tints the whole salad.
- Boiled beef
- Adds substance and a firm, chewy texture as the main protein.
- Potatoes
- Add body and a soft, starchy texture that helps the mixture hold together.
- Apples
- Add crisp texture and a mild sweet-tart note that balances the salt.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavours and sharpens the salty herring.
The step that matters
Soaking the herring. Salt slowly diffuses out of the fish during soaking. Soaking for the full twenty‑four hours removes excess salt, so the herring tastes balanced rather than harshly salty when mixed with the other ingredients.
Swap the apple
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, potato, vinegar, pepper):
- Limefits better
- Mangofits better
- Cherryfits better
- Applethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, potato, vinegar, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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